மொழிசமத்துவத்தின் நாயகன் லீ குவான் யூ வுக்கு அஞ்சலி - வ.ஐ.ச.ஜெயபாலன்

TRIBUTE TO LEE KUVAN YEW FOR HIS LANGUAGE POLICY WHICH MADE SINGAPORE IS THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WHERE TAMILS ENJOY LINGUISTIC EQUALITY AND FREEDOM

தனது இன மொழிச் சமத்துவ கொள்கையால் தமிழர் மொழிவாரி சுதந்திரத்துடனும் சமத்துவத்துடனும் வாழ்கிற ஒரே நாடாக சிங்கப்பூரை மேம்படுதியமைக்காக 

சிங்கை முதல்வர் லீ குவான் யூவுக்கு என் ஆழ்ந்த அனுதாபங்கள்.

TRIBUTE TO LEE KUAN YEW AND ASSOCIATED THOUGHTS

V.I.S. Jayapalan

My heartfelt tribute to Lee Kuan Yew, specifically because of his egalitarian policies in terms of linguistic and ethnic rights which made all the ethnic groups in Singapore enjoy freedom and justice.  In a country whether there is a capitalist, socialist, or communist system in place, if there is no linguistic equality among ethnic groups, it is merely an ailing country.

Even those with the status of a super power in possession of atom bombs, failed to save the Soviet Union, precisely because of linguistic equality. Even after the minority states of the Soviet Union accepted domination of the Russian language for 70 years, they broke away without standing together in facing a crisis contributed by globalisation with Western manipulation. These circumstances increased internal and external pressures. The upper echelons of Soviet Russia and Yugoslavia consisting of party elites and uber-bureaucrats, justified linguistic and ethnic inequality in the name of national unity by stating that a country requires a unitary state language, but were eventually taken aback by the development of history. All over the world, with the few exceptions of the third world, all the multi-ethnic countries which have numerically significant minorities (ca.more than 5 million) either federalised or disintegrated. 

Any multi-ethnic country which desires integration, must establish ethnic and linguistic equality, or it will end up like the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia who have left room for Russian and Serbian oppression in the name of national unity.

Any territorial, ethnic and linguistic inequality will lead to chauvinism of the dominant group within in a multi-ethnic country. All forms of chauvinism will function as a terminator of a multi-ethnic coexistence.

The multi-ethnic nations of third world which have placed the language of the dominant group above others in the name of a state language should learn from the historical dialectics of the world.

Even with criticism of the political and economic system of Singapore, I salute the memory of Lee Kuan Yew on behalf of Tamils, for refusing to give room for Malay and Chinese chauvinism and establishing equal space for all ethnic groups.

On this occasion I appeal to the opinion makers and intellectuals of Asian countries such as China, India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, to begin a discourse to identify the aspects of inequality and linguistic oppression.

Edited March 26, 201510 yr by poet